This is a dish I grew up with, a friend of the family who is ethnic Albanian but grew up in Egypt would make this for us, its an Egyptian dish. I would get so excited when she would bring this! When I got older and learned how to cook I asked her for this recipe, and have been making it ever since!…
Beef and lamb
Baked Beans with Lamb (Fasule me Mish)
Baked beans with lamb is one of the most popular Albanian dishes. In Albanian, it’s called fasule me mish, and in Macedonian it’s called tavce gravce. You can make it with beef or veal as well; I use what ever I have at the time. When I first wrote this post, I didn’t have a slow cooker, so now that I do, I use it on days that I am busy, and it turns out great. I love how soft the beans get and how meat just falls off the bone.
Make sure that you do NOT season the water with salt or else the beans will not soften; add salt in the last hour of cooking, whether you are using a slower cooker or baking them. …
Layered Steak Dinner
This recipe is a family favourite, not only my family but with my friends as well:)
This dish is made in one pan, yes one pan, talk about easy clean up! I came up with this when my kids were younger, it was quick, economical, and healthy. You can use more meat if you are big meat eaters, and use more veggies. …
Kafta and Potatoes with Tahini Sauce
This is a Palestinian style Kafta dish that my friend Asmahan makes. I’m not sure her exact recipe, but mine tastes just like hers so it works for me:) We all love it so much, serve it with rice and salad on the side and you got an amazing dinner to serve!
What you will need:
- 1 lb and 1/2 kafta* (seasoned ground beef)
- 4 medium sized potatoes
Tahini sauce:
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 4 heaping tablespoons of plain yogurt
- juice of one whole lemon
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- salt to season
For potatoes, peel and cut into slices, pan fry in a little olive oil, just to brown the potatoes but not to cook, they will bake in the oven with the kafta. Season with salt and sprinkle some paprika for colour while pan frying.
This is an optional step, you may add the potatoes raw, but trust me this extra step makes a huge difference in the flavour, texture, and colour of the potatoes.
Prepare the tahini sauce, taste and adjust flavour to your personal liking by adding salt, lemon, or more tahini. If it’s too thick, you may add some water; the texture should be saucy. Taste it before adding to the pan to make sure you are happy with how it tastes and the consistency of the sauce.
Spoon evenly in a casserole dish, and add the meat on top. The easiest way to do that is flatten the kafta meat in the bag it comes in, then slide out of bag on top of the tahini sauce. Layer the potatoes on top and bake for 45 minutes at 350. Depending it might cook sooner or need more time depending the thickness of meat and the heat of your oven. Serve with rice and salad, enjoy!
*Kafta is a seasoned ground beef that you get at the Middle Eastern meat shop; made to order. Just ask for kafta and how many pounds of it that you want, they will make it for you. It is made with fresh parsley, onions, spices, and seasonings. You may ask for the butcher to add a little lamb if you like.
If you don’t have that available to you, you can make it yourself. Spices typically used are seven spice, cumin, salt, some people use cinnamon, you can add pepper, you can also use coriander. You may be able to find kafta seasoning at the Middle Eastern store. You can look up kafta seasoning as well for more ideas, and then just add the parsley and onion.
If you are making a larger pan, just double or triple the amount of ingredients for the tahini sauce, potatoes, and kafta. If I am having guests, I make a large pan like in the pictures. I don’t bother measuring, I just taste as I go along and add more until the pan is filled.
Mini Kabobs
Mini kabobs are perfect for wrapping up in pita for sandwiches or just enjoying them as is! I love making these when I am in a rush, and I need to make something fast for dinner! You can serve them with rice and salad, and tzatiki or as sandwiches with tzatiki…mmm yummy! …
Imam Bayildi -Stuffed Eggplant or Karniyarik
Imam bayildi literally means ‘the imam fainted’ there are few folklore stories that go around with this. The story I grew up with was when this imam first tried this dish he fainted as it was so good! It is also known as karniyarik, I guess in Turkish tradition imam bayaldi is meatless, but Albanians add meat, I have Turkish friends who add meat as well, and still call it imam bayaldi.
It really is delicious, it’s been a favourite of mine since I was a kid, I was never a big fan of eggplant but prepared like this I was. Now a day’s I like eggplant in many ways….it’s become one of my favourite vegetables! …
Turlu Tava
Turlu tava in Albanian and Turkish means a mixture of things cooking together in the same pot. You can use any vegetable you have on hand. This is a simple recipe, anything goes! You can even make it without meat, by just mixing a variety of vegetables and cooking them together, making a veggie like stew….
Stuffed Peppers – Speca të Mbushura
Stuffed peppers or Speca te mbushura in Albanian, are simple to make and tastes great! One of my families favourite meals….
Easy Manti
Traditionally manti is made with a home made dough, rolled out and cut into circles or squares. Its basically a Turkish style ravioli. This is just the easy way to make them, as you don’t have to make your own dough and roll and cut…but if your in the mood to make them from scratch I have got a treat for you! I recently made them and they are not too hard to make at all! …
Iskender Kabob
The first time I had this dish was at a dinner party at my friend Candan’s many years ago, I loved it so much and learned how to make it. It’s a very popular Turkish dish, it is easy to make it at home and very delicious. My kids love when I make this, it is now a family favourite.
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